


Cutting the Cord

by skillzyo



Series: The Main Drag [2]
Category: Glee
Genre: Brief Brittana Moments, F/F, crack ship, mentions of unrequited love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-13
Updated: 2016-01-13
Packaged: 2018-05-13 19:46:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5714920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skillzyo/pseuds/skillzyo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Sugar throws a pool party and a sleepover for the Troubletones, Quinn inevitably runs into The Mack again. She knows she's still getting over Rachel, but the kiss from Mack has been on her mind a lot. Maybe a sleepover is just the thing she needs to untangle her feelings once and for all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cutting the Cord

Quinn knows her family is better off than most in Lima. With two flights of stairs to the upper level, two kitchens, an exercise room in the basement, and a three car garage, her house was one of the largest in her neighborhood. And her mother fought tooth and nail to keep it after the divorce. The mansion she stands in front of now, however, makes her own home look like a shack in comparison.

"Why does this girl go to public school?" she mutters as she grabs the large, brass ring on the front door and knocks. The sound echoes off the mahogany doors and fills the humid air. Quinn struggles to ignore the sweat that forms on her brow while she waits for someone to answer. The thin fabric of her blue sundress sticks to her skin by the time the door swings inward and reveals a tall, slender man in a suit with thinning white hair.

"Ms. Fabray, I presume?"

"Uh… You presume correctly," she says with a nod as the man ushers her inside. Goosebumps start to form when the cool air in the house hits her skin. The man closes the door behind them and mentions that the rest of the guests are already in the pool, but she barely hears him. She's more entranced by the foyer. She's never seen so much white marble in her life.

"Now, Ms. Sugar requested that I lead you to the nearest bathroom so you can change. Then, I am to escort you to the pool."

Quinn wants to decline, but she already feels as if the entrance is going to swallow her. She doesn't want to get lost in the rest of the mansion, so she simply nods as she follows him past the double staircase and under the wide archway. The marble floor turns to dark, wooden panels once they exit the foyer. Large paintings line the dark walls, some almost as tall as Quinn.

"The half-bath, Ms. Fabray."

Quinn startles at the sound of the man's voice. After she slows her heartbeat, she nods in thanks and slips into the bathroom so she can change into her bathing suit. When she comes back out, the man hands her a blue beach towel and continues to lead her through the house. She wraps the towel around her torso as old insecurities blossom in the back of her mind while she follows the butler.

She glances down each corridor they pass and tries to get a good idea of what each one looks like, but she gives up when she almost loses her guide. All the twists and turns make her feel like she's in Hogwarts, but without the moving staircases. At least, she hopes the staircases don't move.

Quinn sighs in relief once they finally reach the tall glass doors at the back of the house. She's not sure how much more of the butler's presence she could have taken. His unnerving silence continues until he opens the door and ushers her outside, where the sticky summer air presses down on her.

"Ms. Fabray has arrived," he announces to the girls already in the pool. Half of them are immersed in a water volleyball match. The other girls are either lounging on inflatable chairs or sliding down the spiral water slide in the corner of the pool. They're all from The Troubletones and Quinn suddenly feels like an outsider.

Performing one song with them didn't exactly make her part of the group. She's sure the only reason she's here is because of her friendship with Brittany and Santana. Then Sugar squeals her name and slides off her pink inflatable raft. She climbs the ladder closest to Quinn and, before she can move out of the way, wraps her in a wet hug.

"Sugar, you're getting my towel soaked!"

"It's cool. Alfred can get you another one," Sugar says as she pulls away. Her brow scrunches and she folds her arm over her chest. "What are you doing covering up that body with a towel anyway?"

Mack saves Quinn from answering. "Yo, Sug. Stop harassing her and get back in the pool," she calls from the other side of the volleyball net. "We still need to have that Chicken rematch against Lopez."

"Hey, Brittz and I won that match fair and square. No rematch needed," Santana says from her blue inflatable chair. Brittany floats besides her on a red one, her arm looped around Santana's so she can't float away while she dozes in the afternoon sun. They remind Quinn of otters.

"You said you were going to ground me if I pushed you in!" Sugar stomps her foot and glares at Santana. The darker girl pushes down her sunglasses and raises an eyebrow. Sugar lowers her eyes to the concrete and traces circles along the cement with her toe. "I mean, yeah, you guys totally won fair and square."

"That's what I thought," Santana says with a smirk as she shifts on the raft to get more comfortable. "Now leave Q alone or Snix is gonna push you in the pool again."

Sugar grumbles under her breath and asks the butler to bring Quinn a raft of her own. The old man bows and leaves to do as she bids. Sugar flashes a smile at Quinn before she slides back into the pool and joins in on the newest round of volleyball. The old man reappears at her side with a clear inflatable chair at his side.

"Thank you, Alfred."

"My name is Joseph."

Her brow furrows as she takes the raft. "Then why—"

"Ms. Sugar recently watched all of the Batman films. She promised a bonus if I let her call me Alfred for the time being," he says. "You, however, do not pay me at all, so you can call me Joseph."

He bows and leaves Quinn to her own devices. She looks at the towel wrapped around her body and sighs before she lays it on the concrete, far from the edge of the pool and the dangers of the splash zone. It takes her a moment to shake off the fear that everyone is staring at her before she turns around and walks to the edge of the pool, careful not to slip in the puddles of water.

"Hey, Quinn. We always have room for one more if you want to join in on some volleyball."

"No thanks, Mercedes. I think Santana and Brittany have the right idea," she says as she lowers the raft into the water. Mercedes shakes her head at the three cheerleaders and returns to the volleyball game.

"So, Q," Santana says once Quinn has made herself comfortable, "have you talked to Gayberry lately?"

Quinn shakes her head. "No, but I did text her about a Skype call this weekend."

"A text? Really, Fabray?" Santana lowers her sunglasses and raises an eyebrow. "If you want to talk to the dwarf, grow a backbone and call her. That way she can't pretend she didn't get your text."

"Oh, you mean the way you do when you're ignoring me?"

"It's not that I ignore them. I just don't read them until after Brittz and I are done getting our mack on," Santana says with a shrug. Brittany stirs when she hears her name and her eyes flutter open. She waves when she sees Quinn. The topic of Rachel is temporarily forgotten as they catch up on what they've been doing the last few days.

Brittany is in the middle of a story about Lord Tubbington getting trapped in her sister's closet when a loud shout cuts her off. Quinn turns towards the sound, only to take a volleyball to the face. Pain blossoms around her nose. She can already tell by the sting that there's going to be a red mark later. Luckily, when she pulls her hand away, it comes away clean.

"Shit, are you alright, Quinn?"

The blonde looks up from her hand and finds Mack treading water next to the inflatable raft. The rest of her face turns as red as her nose when she remembers the kiss at Scoops n Sprinkles. They may not have talked about it, but Quinn has been thinking about it almost as much as she thinks about Rachel Berry.

"I'm fine." She waves Mack away, but the dark-haired girl swims closer. "I swear, I'm okay. It just surprised me."

"Tell that to your nose, Rudolph," The Mack says before she can stop herself. Quinn glares and Mack averts her gaze. "Sorry. It's a reflex."

"Whatever. It's fine." Quinn reaches to the other side of the raft and pulls the volleyball out of the water. She tosses it at the darker girl, who nearly fumbles it. "You should get back to your game."

Mack hesitates before she asks, "Do you wanna join in?"

"No, Mack. I don't want to join in," she says. She leans back against the headrest and closes her eyes. "I'm already getting smacked in the face enough just floating here, thank you very much."

"Fine. You probably suck anyway," Mack says. Quinn cracks open one of her eyes. There's a smirk on Mack's face. She knows what the other girl is trying to do and it's not going to work. "I'm sure I'll be better off with Sugar."

Quinn raises an eyebrow and looks over Mack's shoulder, where she sees Sugar hopping in the water, trying to see how high she can jump. She returns her gaze to Mack. "Somehow I doubt that."

"Okay, so we're getting our asses handed to us," Mack admits with a shrug. "We can't do much worse with you on our team."

"You really know how to sweet talk a girl."

"For fucks sake, Fabray. Will you fucking go already?" Santana snaps. "Listening to the two of you is more exhausting than watching Finn try to dance."

Quinn glares at Santana, but the other girl has already gone back to her conversation with Brittany. She slides off the inflatable chair and gasps when she hits the cold water. To her credit, Mack doesn't laugh at the reaction. She offers her free hand and pulls Quinn towards the volleyball net. After she announces that Quinn will be joining her team, the game starts up again. It's already half over when she joins in, but by the end of the match, everyone is too busy laughing and high-fiving one another to keep track of who has how many points.

The blonde excuses herself from the next game with a small smile. The other girls groan, but she shakes her head and swims toward the edge of the pool, where she pulls herself up. When she grabs her towel off the ground and turns around, she's surprised to find that Mack followed her.

"Don't you and Sugar have another volleyball game to lose?" she asks as she dries her shaggy hair.

"Nah. I think I'm all volleyball'd out," Mack says with a shrug. She loops her thumbs around the edges of her black bikini bottom and rocks back on her heels. She opens her mouth, but a huff of air is all that comes out. Quinn lets Mack collect her thoughts while she wraps the towel around herself. She watches the other girl run her hand over her wet hair, which isn't quite as wild with water weighing it down. "I just thought maybe, ya know, it was time for you to put more sunblock on or something and it's kinda hard to reach your own back so I thought I could maybe help you out with that or something."

"You're nervous."

"And you really like to point that out," Mack says. "Look, I was just wondering if you needed help putting sunblock on. I'm not gonna cop a feel or anything, if that's what you're worried about."

Quinn makes the other girl squirm a few seconds more before she tells her she has some sunscreen in her bag. While she spreads out her towel and lies on her stomach, Mack digs through the bag until she produces a thin tube. She stares at the tube and frowns at the thought of how much it must have cost. She's almost afraid she's going to end up wasting it. Quinn assures her that she has a cupboard full back home, which chases away her worries.

She squeezes the lotion into her hand and rubs her palms together so they aren't freezing when she touches Quinn's skin. She closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and reminds herself that she was the one who asked to do this.

Quinn sighs when Mack runs her hands over her back. It feels nice to be taken care of for once. Plus, Mack seems to think putting sunblock on her requires giving her a massage as well. She isn't going to complain, especially since the soothing touch is keeping her mind off of Rachel. She hums to herself when Mack's hands run along her sides before they move to her lower back. Mack hesitates before she moves down to the back of Quinn's legs. Sometimes she forgets the blonde was a Cheerio before she was a Skank, so the amount of muscle she finds in the girl's thighs and calves surprises her. Once she finishes, Quinn rolls onto her back and smiles up at her. It makes the butterflies in Mack's stomach flutter.

"You're good at that."

Mack shrugs. "It's not hard to put on sunblock."

"Don't argue with me when I'm complimenting you," Quinn says as she swats the other girl on the thigh. "Do you want me to get your back now?"

"Nah." Mack waves her off. "I don't really burn so I don't have to worry about that stuff."

But she does burn. By the time the sun goes down, Mack is so red she would make a lobster look pink. When the other girls head inside for dinner, she stays in the pool and floats on her back so the cool water can soothe some of the stinging sensation spreading across her skin. She would close her eyes, but she's sure her eyelids are burnt as well.

"You should have taken me up on my offer to do you." Mack turns her head to the side and sees Quinn standing next to the pool in a blue sundress. She smirks at the blonde before she returns her gaze to the darkening sky.

"What makes you say that?"

"You look like a fire hydrant and you won't come out of the water," Quinn says. She lowers herself to the ground and dangles her feet over the edge of the pool. She watches as Mack flips onto her stomach and swims closer to her.

"Maybe I just wanted you to come out and find me," Mack suggests as she treads water in front of Quinn's legs. The blonde rolls her eyes and reaches for Mack, who hisses and jerks back when she grabs her by the shoulder.

"That's what I thought," Quinn says. Mack grumbles under her breath before she swims closer to the blonde once more. "So are you just going to stay out here all night? Because I don't think Sugar will appreciate you sleeping in her pool."

Mack stares at her for a moment before she lowers her gaze to the water and says, "It's going to hurt more if I come out."

"That's what they make aloe for," Quinn says with a chuckle as she stands. She offers her hand so she can help Mack out of the water and smiles when the other girl actually accepts the offer. "Let's go see if Sugar has—" She cuts herself off with a shriek when Mack tugs on her arm and pulls her into the pool. Water gets up her nose and in her mouth. Mack laughs when she comes up for air sputtering and swearing, looking like a drowned rat. Once she catches her breath, she glares at the other girl. "I am going to kill you!"

Mack only laughs harder and glides backwards as she dares Quinn to come catch her. The blonde wipes the water out of her eyes before she swims after her tormentor. Every time she comes close to catching her, Mack dives and swims under Quinn, just out of reach, and resurfaces near the other side of the pool, which only frustrates the blonde. She tries to keep up underwater, but Mack literally swims circles around her.

She comes up for air near the edge of the pool for the fifth time and searches for Mack's silhouette beneath the water's surface, but it's too dark to see anything besides the reflection of the moon and stars. She's starting to get a little worried that Mack hasn't come up for air yet when the girl pops up in front of her with a splash and a wide grin. Quinn squeals when Mack shakes the water out of her hair and most of it ends up on her.

"You can be such a brat and I hate you." She laughs as she splashes water in Mack's face. Mack's grin only widens and she swims closer to Quinn, who backs up until she's against the cement wall.

"And I think you're lying," Mack says in a soft voice. She floats toward the blonde until their noses are close to touching. She places her hands on the lip of the pool and leans in so her body presses against Quinn's. She's close enough to feel the blonde's breath on her skin. "See, I think you actually like me at least a little bit," she whispers, "or you wouldn't let me do this again."

She presses her lips against Quinn's the same way she did at the ice cream parlor. This time, however, Quinn kisses back, which makes it a thousand times better than the first one. She can taste a hint of chlorine on the other girl's soft lips, but it's overpowered by the pleasant warmth that spreads through her body. She's kissing Quinn again and Quinn is kissing her back.

She places her hand under Quinn's chin and rubs her thumb over the soft skin before she slips her hand to the back of Quinn's neck. It takes a moment, but Quinn eventually brings her own arms up and loops them around Mack's neck. Unfortunately, Mack can only ignore the pressure against her sunburned skin for so long before she has to break the kiss and pull away with a hiss.

"Sorry! Sorry! I forgot about the sunburn."

"Yeah, so did I," Mack says with a frown. "That stings like a bitch." She dips her body into the cool water until it's up to her chin.

Quinn watches her for a moment before she sighs and pulls herself out of the pool. She regrets not bringing a towel with her. Then again, she hadn't expected Mack to pull her into the water so it wasn't really her fault. Luckily, it's just as hot as it was earlier in the day, so she isn't freezing.

Mack follows Quinn's example and climbs out of the pool as well, but she uses the ladder so she doesn't accidentally scrape her sensitive skin against edge of the pool. She makes a detour and swings by one of the chairs surrounding the pool, where she grabs her towel off the back of it. She uses it to dry her hair on her way over to Quinn.

"Are you ready to go inside now?" Quinn asks once Mack is finally standing in front of her. Mack shakes her head and tells her to wait a moment before she drapes the towel over the blonde's shoulders. Quinn smiles at the gesture, but pulls back when Mack tries to kiss her again. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"You seemed to think it was a great idea back in the pool." Mack's brow furrows as she tries to figure out what happened between their kiss and now. "Is it because of the sunburn thing? 'Cause I don't mind. It only hurts a little and kissing you is totally worth it."

"No, it's not that." Quinn averts her gaze. "It has nothing to do with you. I'm just… I'm still…" She hates that she can't get the words out and she hates that she'll hurt Mack if she does get them out.

"You still love that Rachel Berry chick." Mack feels an almost physical, stabbing pain in her chest when Quinn nods. She doesn't regret the kiss, but she does regret getting her hopes up so high. She knows she should have seen this coming, but she had been so caught up in getting a chance to kiss Quinn again, she half-convinced herself that Rachel Berry didn't exist. But Rachel does exist and, even though she's miles and miles away, Quinn is still in love with her. Mack sighs and rubs the back of her head. "We should uh… The girls are probably waiting for us or something."

"Mack—"

"I get it, Fabray," she snaps before she turns away from the blonde and crosses her arms over her stomach. She'd rather feel the pain from her sunburn than the embarrassment and disappointment that's flooding through her at the moment. "I get that you still love her, okay?" she says in a much calmer, quieter voice. "Can we just go inside now before mosquitos eat us alive?"

Quinn knows Mack is trying to change the subject, but she also knows that she's putting the decision in her hands. "Yeah, we can go. I'm surprised they haven't sent out a search party for us."

Mack nods her agreement, but she stays silent. She doesn't look at Quinn as they go inside, afraid that if she does, the blonde will see how stupid she feels. The butler greets them when they step through the glass doors and hands Mack another towel before he leads them to the dining room where the rest of the Troubletones are already inhaling slices of extra cheesy pizza. Santana waves Quinn and Mack over, but Quinn's the only one who sits next to her and Brittany. Mack chooses to sit at the other end of the table.

"Did you get in a fight with a sprinkler and lose?"

"Sprinklers are like my worst enemy. They always spray me when I'm trying to sneak back home from Santana's house," Brittany says as she reaches for another slice of pizza. She hands it to Quinn, who gives her a forced smile and puts it on her plate.

"Mack pulled me into the pool."

"Seriously?" Santana drops her pizza onto the plate and starts to scoot her chair back. "I'll show that bitch what's up. No one messes with the Unholy Trinity."

"Calm down. It's not that serious," Quinn says. "Besides, I'm pretty sure I already hurt her enough as it is." She sighs and stares at the pizza. Brittany places her hand on Santana's and pulls her back down to her seat. She mutters to herself about Lima Heights before she goes back to eating her pizza. The look she's giving Quinn, however, makes it clear she wants her to continue. "She pulled me into the pool and we goofed off for a while. Then she kissed me."

Santana chokes on her pizza. Her eyes water and she glares Quinn for telling her something so ridiculous while she was in the middle of eating. Brittany rubs circles over her back until she's able to get the food down.

"You have got to be kidding me."

Quinn shakes her head. "She kissed me and I kissed her back."

Santana's grateful she didn't take another bite of pizza. She's pretty sure that piece of information would have made her choke, too. "Quinn, what the hell were you thinking?" she hisses after she wipes her mouth with a napkin. "Have you forgotten about little miss Broadway at NYADA?"

"Of course I haven't forgotten her," Quinn snaps. "I just got caught up in the moment, okay? It was nice feeling someone want me for once."

"Quinn…" The frown on Brittany's face makes Quinn feel a hundred times worse.

"Look, I told her about my feelings for Rachel. It's not going to happen again. Everything's fine."

"Really? 'Cause I don't think Mack got that memo," Santana points out. She nods her head towards the other side of the table where Mack is poking at her pizza with her fork. When one of the girls tries to take it away from her, she slams the fork in between the girl's fingers and glares until she slowly removes her hand from Mack's plate.

Quinn groans and leans her head back. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do."

"Well, kissing her back was your first mistake, so we can rule that out," Santana says with a shrug before she takes another bite of her pizza. Quinn rolls her eyes at the comment, which is how she catches Brittany watching her with sad eyes.

Before she can ask what she wants, Sugar makes the announcement that she finally has enough friends to play hide-and-seek with her in the house so that's what they're going to do. Brittany and Santana share a look and Quinn groans. She knows what hide-and-seek means to them. If one is it, the other will sit somewhere obvious until she gets found. Then they'll spend the rest of the night making-out instead of seeking. And when they're hiding together, people usually pretend they didn't see them so they don't have to deal with the awkwardness of breaking up their make-out session.

That very same awkwardness is the reason why Quinn refuses to hide with them, which leads to her wandering the halls of the Motta mansion alone. She regrets not grabbing one of the maps Sugar passed out before they started the game, but it's too late to go back for one now. Even if she could return to the dining room, she doesn't think she would be able to find her way through the halls.

"I guess I'm not the only one who forgot a map, huh?"

Quinn startles at the unexpected voice that comes from behind her. She looks over her shoulder and sees The Mack leaning against the wall with her arms crossed over her chest. She must have changed before the game started because the black bikini is nowhere in sight. Instead, she's wearing her usual outfit of faded jeans, a halter top, and sleeveless denim jacket.

"What gave it away?"

"You've walked down this hallway four times now and I'm pretty sure you didn't even notice," Mack says. "I mean, you didn't even see me standin' here and I'm not exactly hiding."

Quinn rubs her arm and looks down at the floor. "I guess I've been a little wrapped up in my thoughts."

"Well, don't think so hard. You're gonna give me a headache," Mack teases before she pushes off the wall. "Ya know, we could probably find our way a little easier if we stick together."

"I uh… I guess it couldn't hurt," Quinn says before she starts down the hall again. Mack takes her by the arm, however, and tugs her towards one of the corridors that branches off from the hallway they're in. Quinn opens her mouth to ask where they're going, but Mack shushes her and simply asks Quinn to trust her. Left with the choice of being quiet or splitting up, Quinn gives in and follows Mack in silence until they slip into one of the rooms in the narrow hall.

"I thought you might like this place," Mack tells her in a quiet voice after she closes the door. The blonde's brow furrows and she looks away from the door so she can see what's so special about the room. Her breath catches in her throat when she sees a Nimbus 2000 and a golden snitch hanging from the ceiling. A black cauldron is on display on a stone pedestal. A book and a quill lean against it.

Quinn can't contain her squeal of excitement. She hurries across the room to the train set pushed against the wall. It goes from Platform 9 ¾ all the way to a tiny model of Hogwarts. Miniature boats are spread over a fake lake and tiny, horseless carriages have been set up along the road to the castle.

"How did you even find this room?" she asks as she moves one of the carriages with her index finger.

Mack shrugs and shoves her hands in her pockets. "I dunno. I kind of just opened a door while I was wandering and this was here," she says. "I remember you carrying around that Half-Blood Prince book during some classes so I figured you might like to see it."

Quinn smiles when she presses a button on the table and the train whistles. She turns away from the model and walks back over to Mack. She reaches for the other girl's hand, but Mack pulls away before she can touch her and walks over to the red curtain that hides the left wall. When she tugs on the rope, the curtain slides away and reveals the DeLorean from Back to the Future. Quinn covers her mouth to suppress the squeal of excitement.

"You wanna climb in?" Mack asks. Quinn nods and almost skips over to the car. Mack lifts the door open for her and lets Quinn climb in first. Once Quinn is settled in the driver's seat, Mack shuts the door and slides over the hood of the car to the passenger side. After she gets in, she shares a look with Quinn before the two of them burst into laughter.

"I can't believe Mr. Motta collects all of this junk," Mack says when she can't laugh anymore. Her sides hurt too much.

Quinn smacks her on the arm. "Harry Potter and classic films are not junk. Take it back."

"Seriously? But I feel like I'm in a thirteen-year-old's wet dream or something." Mack fiddles with the side of the seat until the chair leans back.

"Take it back or I'll kick you out of the car."

"You can't kick me out. I found this place. I'm the only one who gets to kick anyone out."

"I'm in the driver's seat."

"Well, I'm not takin' it back so you can just try to kick me out," Mack says before she crosses her arms. She yelps when Quinn shoves her into the door. "What the hell, Quinn?"

"I'm making you get out," the blonde says with a smirk before she leans over and reaches for the door handle. Her arm isn't long enough, though, and Mack isn't making things any easier by shoving her hand away. Quinn ends up trying to climb her way over the other girl, only to stop when she presses down too hard on Mack's forearm and hears her hiss in pain.

"Shit! Sunburn, Quinn! Sunburn!"

Quinn moves her hand and reaches for the seat, but that only makes matters worse when she misjudges the distance and falls onto Mack's lap. The other girl squirms beneath her until Quinn finally manages to roll off.

"I told you to let me put aloe on it!"

"Well, I'm sorry if that would be a little awkward for me right now," Mack says through her teeth. Quinn rolls her eyes and tells Mack not to move. "Yeah, 'cause I really wanna go for a stroll right now," Mack says to herself once Quinn leaves the car.

When the blonde comes back half an hour later, Mack is nodding off in the DeLorean. She awakes with a jerk when the car door slams shut. She looks in the driver seat and sees Quinn with a bottle of blue aloe in her hand.

"Shirt off," Quinn says with a wave of her hand. "Now!" she snaps when Mack just stares at her. The other girl winces and pulls her jacket and halter top off. Quinn tosses them in the backseat and gestures for Mack to lay back. After Mack hesitantly does what she's told, Quinn squeezes some of the gel-like substance into her hands. She starts at Mack's shoulder and feels the other girl tense beneath her.

"I can do this myself, ya know," Mack insists. Quinn looks up from the red arm and raises an eyebrow at her. "Or, ya know, you can do it. That's cool, too," she says with a resigned sigh. Quinn gives her a tight smile and returns her gaze to the arm in her hands. Silence fills the space between them as Quinn rubs the aloe into the sunburned skin.

"I'm sorry," she finally says when she moves to the top of Mack's chest. She tries not to think about the way the other girl's breathing quickens beneath her touch or how smooth Mack's skin is.

"It's not your fault I got sunburned."

"Which is why I'm not apologizing for that." Quinn looks up from Mack's chest so she can look her in the eyes. "I'm sorry for what happened by the pool."

Mack jerks beneath her fingertips and shoves Quinn's hands away. "I think I'll take over from here," she says as she reaches for the aloe bottle, but the blonde pulls it out of her reach. "Hand it over."

"No. I'm not done apologizing so you can sit back and listen," Quinn tells her. The two get into a staring contest before Mack groans and leans back again. The blonde nods her approval and returns to the task at hand. "I'm sorry if I made you feel like I don't care about you or your feelings," she says as she focuses on spreading more aloe over the red skin. "You're a great girl, Mack—"

"But you're in love with Rachel."

Quinn nods and brings Mack's left hand closer to her. She rubs up and down her arm, marveling at the corded muscle she finds there, and says, "I'm in love with Rachel, which is why it was wrong for me to kiss you back."

"It's not like Rachel is gonna get jealous. You two aren't dating," Mack points out, which earns her a thwack to the back of her head.

"This isn't about Rachel. This is about us."

"And because of Rachel, there is no us."

Quinn takes a deep breath and counts to ten before she says, "No. There's no us because of me. I don't feel guilty for kissing you because of Rachel." She squeezes more aloe onto her hand and moves to Mack's stomach. The girl shivers at the cold touch. "I feel bad because it isn't fair to you," she admits with a sigh. "I can't be with you like that when I'm still getting over my feelings for Rachel."

"But I could totally help you get over those feelings."

"Do you really want to be the rebound girl?" Quinn asks. She takes Mack's silence as a no. "I need to get over Rachel on my own," she continues. She looks up from Mack's stomach and sees that the other girl has her eyes closed. She brings her hand up places it against Mack's cheek so she'll look at her. Once she has her attention, she gives her a soft smile and says, "Just because I'm not over Rachel yet doesn't mean I haven't been thinking about that kiss for the last three days."

"You serious?"

Quinn nods and moves her hand down to Mack's neck, where her pulse flutters against Quinn's hand. "It made me think about a lot of things that I didn't really want to think about," she says. "It also made me realize that I need to get over these stupid feelings for Rachel so I can be with the awesome girl who made me the prettiest lion in Lima—"

"I think you mean the universe."

Quinn laughs and shakes her head. "See, this is why I need to get over Rachel," she tells her. "Because you deserve a lot more than half of someone," she clarifies, which makes Mack shift her gaze to the roof of the car.

"What if you never get over her, though? What then?" Mack asks in a quiet, strained voice.

Quinn worries her lower lip for a moment before she leans up and kisses Mack on the nose. When she pulls back, Mack is staring at her. "I'm going to get over her. Especially if I keep spending time with you," she says with a smile, which the other girl returns. "Now will you turn over and let me finish this?"

Mack nods and flips onto her stomach. Quinn rubs the aloe in circles over the heated skin. As she gets lost in the feel of the muscles twitching beneath her hands, the truth of what she just told Mack hits her.

She can't rid herself of the feelings she has for Rachel in three days, but she's starting to realize those unrequited feelings are hanging on by worn threads. If she keeps spending time with Mack, she'll be able to snip them once and for all. For the first time, Quinn starts to think a summer without Rachel Berry nearby is a good thing. And maybe admitting that is the first step towards letting go.


End file.
